Chapter 11- The Long Road Ahead

"They're here."

Beck can't take his eyes off the sky as the ships block out any other sight. When he doesn't respond right away, the woman next to him clears her throat. "Tron?"

That's not my name...And yet he turns to her.

"What are your orders?"

After a pause, he looks back up to the sky. "Begin moving civilians to the tunnels. Tell the others to move to high alert. Something's going to happen, I can feel it."

"Yes sir." Mara (the name his consciousness supplies out of nowhere) nods and hurries off. He unclips something from his waist and takes off into a sprint. As it clicks beneath him, a bike forms and he finds himself speeding towards the city.

The streets are nearly empty. Understandable at this time of the cycle; most programs were sleeping. He needed to reach the square where he could sound the alarm….

He glances up and gasps at the sight of a lone program in the middle of the street. He squeals on the brakes and forces his weight to the side. The program doesn't move, and the weight of the bike tips. Suddenly, Beck is being dragged along, one leg against the concrete. His breathing harshly echoes in his ears as he kicks the bike away. It scrapes against his lower leg, but he rolls onto his side before coming to a stop. There's a loud CRASH behind him, and the heat is warm against his back. His breath is raspy as he gasps for air, turning his gaze up to the program still frozen in the middle of the street.

"Tron." He breathes. As the name sinks in, he pushes himself to his feet. His right leg won't take his full weight, so he limps towards his mentor. The hope burning in his chest begins to fade as Tron never moves, and he can now see he is staring down at the road, mask hiding his expression.

"...Tron?" At his name, he finally looks up, and Beck sighs in relief. "Where have you been? You've been gone for so long!"

"Beck..." He sounds confused.

"Yes." He places his hands on Tron's shoulders, trying to ignore how he tenses. "It's me. Where have you been?"

Again, Tron doesn't answer the question as his head shoots up, the two nearly colliding masks. "Beck you have to leave. You have to leave now!"

"I'm not leaving you or Argon. Something's happening, Tron and the city needs both of us."

"I-I…" Tron groans, folding in on himself. Beck freezes as his circuits flicker, momentarily turning Occupation orange before reverting to white.

"...What happened to you?"

"He's seeing the light." Tron hasn't responded, and Beck whips around to see Dyson slowly approach. Beck's hands fall away and he steps away from the approaching soldier in shock. "Thanks to your help, Renegade, the modifications in his code are growing stronger with each passing cycle. All he needed was some convincing."

"Get back," Tron growls, turning his helmeted head to Dyson. "You get this code out of me right now or I'll-" He breaks off with a cracked cry as the flickering returns violently, and he's forced down to his knees. Beck tries to run towards him, but Dyson steps in between them, disc out. He stops, all his weight painfully transferring to his right leg.

"I wouldn't do that," Dyson warns Beck and then steps behind Tron once he's certain the younger program won't move. He grabs Tron by the disc dock, and he grunts at the pain as he's pulled into a sitting position. His head limply falls back against Dyson, who grins to show the sharpest of his teeth. "The more he fights, the more powerful the code becomes. So the more you try to help him, the more it'll hurt him. And once he gives in, his first mission will be to round up the rebellion. He will track the Renegade down, and have him at Clu's knees. Anyone less will be derezzed on sight."

"No," Beck whispers softly. He has to warn the others! He has to get to the square!

"No!" Tron grunts against the pain. "You'll have to kill me first."

Dyson chuckles. "I hardly doubt that. But you will know pain, unlike anything you've ever felt. After all that, wouldn't it just be easier to give in?"

Tron's circuits flicker and he doesn't answer as Dyson's hand wraps around his throat.

"It looks like some more convincing is in order." Beck watches in horror as Dyson's grip tightens around Tron's throat. The hero grunts as his hands scrabble for his throat, but weakly fall as his code fights him again. His breathing is ragged as he tries to fight.

"No!" Dyson gasps as the Renegade lunges, disc out. Tron falls limply to the side and Dyson curls in on himself, now holding a stump. Beck catches his disc and runs to Tron's side. "Tron…"

Tron is gasping for air but looks up as he is gently turned onto his back. He relaxes at the sight of Beck. His voice is weary as he says: "You have to sound the alarm. It's not safe in Argon anymore."

Beck nods. "I know, I know. But what about you?"

Tron takes a deep breath, and he steadies. "I'll hold Dyson off for you. I can't say for how long, but you have to get there, and you have to get everyone out of the city. Nobody will survive."

"I'm not leaving you." Beck insists. "Not like this!"

"You must. The whole city is at stake. You must protect them!"

He shakes his head. He could feel tears welling in his eyes. "I'm not leaving you!"

Tron pushes him away and he stumbles. "Go!"

"Beck!"

Someone is shaking him and his eyes fly open. He whips around to meet Tron's steady gaze. "Easy…"

He's shaking, he faintly realizes as he takes a dry swallow. Concern furrows Tron's brow, so Beck hurries to mumble: "nightmare."

Tron nods in understanding and gently squeezes his shoulder. Beck fights everything in order not to flinch. "You want to talk about it?"

Beck steals a quick glance to the older program before averting his gaze to his lap. "It's nothing."

Tron makes a noise in the back of his throat like he doesn't believe him but otherwise doesn't pry. Beck is thankful but still turns his attention to the window as the bus slows to a stop. The bright fluorescents of the station cause him to squint as the people around the programs begin to stir.

"Think we're in Pittsburgh, PA." Tron says finally. A sleepy User next to them gives him an odd look when he says 'p-a', but seems to shrug it off.

Beck notes the User and lowers his voice as he asks: "Where's that?"

"Far enough from where we were." Is all Tron says in response before he rises. "It's about 3 am, so you slept for a good portion of the trip."

"Are we getting off?"

Tron nods, taking a long moment to stretch. His shirt rises, and his circuits peek. Beck hurriedly grabs his shirt and pulls it down before anyone noticed. Tron jumps but then looks around to find all the other passengers were too busy grabbing their things to notice. "Thanks."

Beck nods and rises as well, pushing his glasses up on his face. Tron slips on a hat, and Beck pulls up his hood before they slip off the bus. They blend into the crowd, Beck carrying the bag as Tron keeps watch for any threats. None jump out or shout them down, and both sigh in relief as they enter the station.

"We have one hour. If you're hungry, I'll give you some cash. Otherwise, we need to lay low until it's time to get back on the bus."

Beck nods, "Got it."

"Are you hungry?"

"No." Beck lies. His stomach growls, giving him away, and he blushes scarlet.

Tron sighs and digs through the bag before handing him a wad of cash. "Here. This should do. Go eat."

"...Are you sure?"

"We have plenty," Tron assures him. "Now go."

Beck nods and follows a small crowd to the vendors down the way. Both are unaware of the cameras in the station.

"Found something, boss."

Quorra perks up at the robotic voice from where she had curled up in a seat. The other avengers roused from their ticks and tells of boredom (as Quorra had been noting silently), and Tony rises first. "Show me, FRIDAY."

FRIDAY pulls up the running video. Someone in a hood is walking away from the row of seats in a bus station. A man in a hat at the seats sets down his bag as he searches around.

"...I don't understand." Hawkeye says, but Quorra ignores him, gaze roving to the hooded man. He is now standing at a food stand and when the stand owner gives him a dirty look, he shyly removes his hood.

She rises slightly. "FRIDAY, are there cameras recording above that food stand?"

"Yes. Would you like me to pull that up, too?"

She nods. "Yes please."

FRIDAY brings up a second screen overlooking the screen. She ignores the confusion and Tony's dirty look as she zooms in on the person's face. They're wearing glasses, but still…

"That's the Renegade."

"There's 90.5% that Miss Quorra is right, boss."

"Huh." Tony wonders aloud.

"Uh guys…" Everyone looks back to Bruce to find him staring at the first screen. Or more specifically, he is meeting the glare of the other program. "Looks like he found us."

Quorra's eyes narrow at the glare of the scarred man as the screen begins to shake. He looks familiar...she would never forget that piercing blue gaze even among scars.

"FRIDAY," Tony asks urgently. "what's the comparison status?"

"Facial recognition matches at 97.77%, boss."

"That's him." Tony breathes, then says louder. "That's Rinzler!"

The camera begins to shake uncontrollably before the screen disappears in static.

"What?! What happened?"

"He noticed we were watching, Stark." Natasha points out. "And after what the Renegade pulled when we were in pursuit and Rinzler's stunt on the ship, we can guess they can control technology."

Thor looks to Quorra at that. "Is that something your people can do?"

Quorra shakes her head. "No, I'm the only program in the User World and I've never been able to do that..."

"Then why are they different?" Tony mutters. The screen returns from static finally, but both programs are long gone.

"They know." Steve confirms, a little too late.

Tony sighs, pinching the bridge of his nose. "FRIDAY, where was this?"

"This was in the Greyhound bus station in Pittsburgh."

"Pittsburgh?" Steve questions. "I thought they were still in New York."

"Rinzler must have figured out that they need to get back to the portal." Quorra thinks aloud. "If he was hiding on the ship while in travel, he must have realized New York is far from the portal."

"You think he put that much together?"

"He used to be the Grid's top security program." Quorra reminds him. "I wouldn't put it past him. And now he knows we're on their trail. He's going to try and take them off-grid."

"Yeah, good luck with that." Tony scoffs. "I could probably count the places on my hand that don't have access to WI-FI, data, CCTV or any type of electricity. If they're out there, we'll catch them."

"We should still be cautious." Steve points out. "Rinzler knows we're following them, so we need to make it seem like we're not. Hide just out of sight, and make sure they don't cause any trouble."

"But-"

"Sometimes the best thing to do is wait." Quorra notes sagely. "Flynn taught me that. If they don't cause any problems, we should wait to corner them until we return to California. Then they'll have nowhere to go."

"Then we can keep them detained until the problem with the portal is resolved." Natasha agrees. "Make sure Rinzler isn't a danger to our world, and send them back."

Quorra frowns at that but says nothing. Steve nods and rises. "You heard them, everyone. Let's go."

Everyone else rises, and Quorra is the last to follow. She glances back at the empty table and sighs. If Rinzler is not a danger to the User World, would that rule out the possibility of him returning to the Grid with a vengeance? She isn't sure.

...She needs to call Sam.

"Tron!" Beck calls as the older program pulls him along. He's clutching his food in his free hand and clutches it tighter as he looks back to the now lit bus station. Moments before, the lights had gone out as he paid for the food. All around him, the Users had made sounds of confusion, and then panic. Then, Tron had grabbed his arm and pulled him away.

"Keep your voice down." Tron urges, not slowing down. "They could be listening in right now."

"Who?"

Tron doesn't answer, but pulls Beck over to a car on the edge of the lot, lost in the dark.

"Here." He places Beck's hand on the hood of the car before hurrying to the other side to unlock the door.

"What are you wanting me to do?"

"Start the car." Tron answers simply as he fidgets with the car door.

"What?"

"I said, start the car."

"I-I heard you!" Beck sputters. "But how? You never taught me how!"

Tron sighs and pauses in his work. "Close your eyes. Focus on the potential current. I know you can feel it."

Beck obeys, closing his eyes. His brow furrows. "I think I found it…"

"Now, use your force to jumpstart it."

Beck's hand skids against the hood, but the car rumbles to a start. His eyes fly open with a smile. "I did it!"

"Good. Get in." Tron says as he opens the door. Beck nods and slips into the passenger seat when unlocked. He manages to catch the bag as Tron tosses it to him.

"Where are we going?"

"Center City." Tron slips a phone he definitely didn't have before out of his pocket and opens it. He pulls up the map and puts it in.

"Wasn't that why we were on the bus?"

Tron doesn't answer, staring down at the map intently.

"Hello?"

"It's not safe." Tron says finally, closing the phone and putting it to the side. "We're being followed."

"Who? And how do you know?"

Tron backs out of the spot. "They were watching us. They're going to try and capture us and keep us from reaching the portal. I'm sure of it."

"So we have to beat them there." Beck decides. "Should be easy enough."

"We'll have to stay out of sight. Neither of us can be seen." Tron says as he switches the car into drive. "You got it?"

Beck quietly nods, not meeting his gaze. Tron sighs and drives out of the parking lot into the night. Beck watches the reflection of Tron's circuits in the window, ignoring the way and lack of a why when his stomach curls as the older program's blue circuits hitch orange, then blue again.